A Rose Without Thorns
by aToriStory
Summary: Years before Lucy Heartfilia met Natsu Dragneel and joined Fairy Tail, a young girl was ripped from her home with Fairy Tail and a young boy had his best friend taken away. I honestly do not have an attractive summary. Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Galevy, and LaxusXOC
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Goodbye Magnolia

A/N: Welcome to my story! It may look like just a Laxus story but don't be mistaken! There will be Nalu and Galevy and some Gruvia! And if you could please review this Prologue! It would mean so much to me. Thanks! -Tori

''Hey!" the voice of a young blonde boy yelled through the window of a small house. He had been tossing rocks at the second story bedroom but to no avail. Instead of going to the front door like a sensible person, he opted to climb the tree next to the house. In an attempt to get the room's inhabitant attention, he lost balance and grabbed onto the planter box, ripping his red lightning bolt t-shirt in the process. "Hey, Janine, why won't you answer me?" he whined, attempting to keep what little grip he had on the window sill.

A small brown headed child appeared in the window, her small body clothed in a silky purple nightdress. She climbed up on the little desk her father had built for her and unlatched the glass panes, pulling them inside the house. "Laxus," she began, rubbing her eyes with little balled up fists, "I was asleep."

The blonde blinked in confusion. "Asleep?" he asked. "It's like, eleven." his arms again slid down and he scrambled to get a better grip on it. "A little help here?" he asked, giving an annoyed look to the brunette.

The girl nodded and leaned over the edge of the window, hooking her small bare feet into the chair by her desk to make sure she wouldn't fall out. She then locked hands with him and pulled as hard as she could, her small arms bending at awkward angles from his weight. "Laxus you need to stop eating so much food while you're at the guildhall." she mumbled around her clenched teeth. The boy, having no clever comeback, just growled and tried to use his feet to climb up the wall, pushing his small body up in a desperate attempt to pull himself inside the room.

••••••••••••••

Meanwhile, about a mile down the cobblestone road, a man in his late forties limped towards a large building located on a cliff-side overlooking a never ending blue sea. His shirt was torn in several places, buttons missing. His pants were bloodstained and frayed. One of his faded black boots was missing and his light brown hair was tossed about in different directions. His breaths came out in painful gasps.

Finally he reached the building. The words Fairy Tail were etched into a board above the door.

Before his trembling hand could reach the wooden handle, the large door opened revealing a young man in his 20's. A trace of laughter still hung on his face and he shouted something about maybe taking a job later. Someone shouted back a reply about sending Laxus back to the guild if he was to be found by the man. The man, a slim, mildly muscular man of average height with short, straight, slicked back dark blue hair, then promptly turned to continue his carefree day.

However, the carefree day the man had planned for himself was not meant to be. The moment his eyes landed on the tattered and beaten man, his face fell from joy to concern and worry. "Jacobs!" He exclaimed, moving to help the man, Jacobs, into the building. "What the hell happened?!" He demanded, struggling with the wooden door under the weight of the injured man.

Jacobs didn't answer him. His breathing became shallower and he knew he didn't have much time left. He had to tell the Master. "WE NEED HELP HERE! SOMEONE HELP! JACOBS IS HURT!" The hall was crowded and many people turned to see what the commotion was. Before anyone could register that one of their guildmates needed medical attention, Jacobs' legs gave out and he fell, pulling the young man down with him. "Just hang on, old man, you'll be fine." He said, trying to keep the elder man's focus on himself and off the pain.

"You and I both know that's not true, Macao." The injured rasped out. "I don't have much time left. Tell Master," he stopped for a moment to breath in, coughing as he did so. "Tell him we failed. We couldn't do it. Tell him Cree is dead." And with that his energy faded and he fell unconscious.

••••••••••••••••••••••

The sun was setting and the girl was crying. Her mother, loading a few bags into a carriage, had a far away look in her eyes. "It's for the best, Janine, you'll see." She told the crying child.

But the child didn't stop crying. The small cerulean drops slid down her chubby child cheeks until they fell of the end of her chin, landing on the neck of the purple sundress and creating a salty pool of water in the fabric. "But Momma," she sobbed. "I don't want to leave. I want to stay here! I want to stay here with Laxus and Master." Her little hands pulled on her mother's sundress.

"No." Came the reply from her mother. "I'm taking you far away from this awful place." She lifted the small brunette into the carriage and climbed in herself, telling the driver where to go. "Now you listen to me, Janine. I want to hear no talk of magic. Or your father." The little girl's emerald orbs widened at her mother's words. No magic? What about her father? Where was he and why wasn't he coming with them? "Do you understand?" She asked. The little girl said nothing and only bobbed her head up and down.

Janine's mind flew back to that morning. Laxus had shown up at her window as he'd done many a time before. They'd had fun sneaking into the kitchen to get food and then climbing into the tree house in the large oak in the backyard.

Oh, how such good moments could change in an instant.

••••••••••••••••

"But Gramps, why can't I go back to Janine's?" The small blonde asked an old man around the size of himself. The man was looking through a telescope and shaking his head.

"Laxus," the elder man sighed sadly. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing Janine for a long while." These words provoked loud protests from the young boy of five. The fact he could not see his best friend for a "long while" apparently struck a nerve.

Among the shouting from his grandson, the guild master raised his right arm, his hand in a fist excluding his pointer finger and his thumb. "Goodbye, Janine. Safe travels and may you return to us in the future."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1. The Day The Rose Returned

A/N: I want to thank Casie200 and The Blue Monster Cake for reviewing! It means so much to me that you both liked my Prologue. I hope this chapter is as good or better than the last.

The dust settled around the feet of a slender form wrapped in a rose-red cloak. The owner of the cloak coughed and pulled back the hood revealing the face of a woman, her mousey brown hair lining her heart shaped face in wild waves. She let a bag that was previously hanging on her right shoulder plummet to the sandy ground.

"Fiore." She whispered, her voice overcome with emotion. Salty tears filled her dark pink irises and overflowed onto the dusty ground. Her tired body, worn from her journey, gave out and she joined her bag on the sand. "I'm home." she cried, her small shoulders hunched over and shaking from the violent show of emotion. "I'm home."

••••••••••••••••••

In a very different setting, a blonde girl finds herself paying for, yet again, a large meal. This girl is Lucy Heartfilia, a Celestial spirit mage. On her right hand there is a light pink tattoo, the symbol of the famous magic guild Fairy Tail.

Taking a deep breath in, she walked with sadness in her steps as she placed her wallet back into her pocket.' Stupid Natsu.' she thought, pushing open the door to the diner she went bankrupt at. 'He needs to stop mooching money off of me.'

Stepping out into the warm mid-spring Magnolia air, she promptly ran right into the back of a certain pink haired dragon slayer. "Hey, Lucy, watch where you're going!" He snapped, glaring at her.

Lucy, taken aback and a little hurt, took a step back from her friend. "Natsu, what's wrong with you?" she inquired. Her team mate wasn't usually like this at all. In fact, he had just been laughing inside the diner.

A Small blue cat flew over to hover beside her head. "Laxus is back." he said, his blue eyes fixed on the form of a tall muscular man with blonde spiked up hair. "You know how Natsu gets whenever Laxus is around." the celestial mage nodded, her focus now on the lightning dragon slayer.

Accompanying him were two other Fairy Tail mages, Freed and Bixlow. Both were loyal members of the Thunder Legion, a group of three mages who followed Laxus around like lost puppies. Freed was a tall, shy man, usually dressed in red. He had long green hair that he tied at the small of his back. Bixlow could not have been any different from his teammate. He wore long, dark black/blue clothing and a metal mask.

Natsu let out a snort and grabbed Lucy's wrist, pulling her in the opposite direction of Laxus and his Thunder Legion. Happy, the little blue cat, followed suit. "C'mon, guys, let's go see if Erza or Ice Princess wants to go on a job." his companion only nodded, the cat giving an "Aye, sir!", her head still turned to face the other blonde mage. Lucy wasn't good friends with the Master's grandson and his stunt a little over a year ago hadn't done anything to make her want to strengthen that bond. However, she knew the expression on his face was new.

His usual scowl of annoyance was instead a worried frown. His eyebrows, commonly angled in on each other, were in a straight line, only adding to his fined, worried look.

This made her curious. What on earth could have one of Fairy Tail's strongest S-Class mages so concerned? Especially Laxus of all people.

••••••••••••••••••••

The girl knew she wasn't going to be able to walk for very much longer. Her feet were swelling and she had a twisted ankle from falling into a sand dune. But she had to keep moving. If she didn't, she knew she would never find Magnolia. So she kept moving forward.

Following the shoreline she staggered into each town, asking anyone she met if they knew how to get to the town. Day after day she repeated the same words to new people in new towns. Finally, on her sixth day in Fiore, she met a man who did. Or rather knew of people who would.

"You're in luck, little lady." The butcher grunted, taking a long knife and scraping it down the back of a large fish. ''A group of mages from Magnolia's guild were just in town."

At these words the girl's eyes lit up, happy that she finally found someone who could help. "Which way did they go?" she asked, newfound energy racing through her veins.

The man pointed a tanned finger towards the forest path that ran parallel to the shore. "Just through those trees there. They just left, so if you hurry you just might cat- " his sentence was interrupted by the girl's sudden shouts of thanks. Looking up from his work he saw that she had already taken off.

••••••••••••••••••

She ran until she heard voices.

" Yeah, right, fire breath," the voice of an adolessant snarled at another teen. "I was the one who blocked the getaway route."

"Whatever you say, Ice Princess." another teenage male voice snorted.

"Boys, that is enough!" A woman's voice commanded, causing the two males' bickering to cease.

Running up the hill, tripping a few times, the traveler finally saw her path home. "Hey!" she shouted, winning the attention of a small group of four. ''Are you all mages of Fairy Tail?" She continued on down the steep hill as she asked this question, keeping herself preoccupied with making it down the hill safe and sound.

"Yeah!' the pink haired teen answered with a wide toothy grin. "Why'd You ask?" he countered her question with one of his own, his three companions waiting for an answer as well.

The cloaked woman smiled and let out a breath. "I need to talk to your Master." She explained before she let the exhaustion win, pulling her body to the ground. She didn't attempt to keep fighting to stay awake anymore, knowing that these four would take her back with them. These four would take her home.

AN: End of chapter 1! Feedback is appreciated! Should I make my chapters longer or keep them short? Should there be more descriptions or dialouge? I don't know . Anyway, thank you so much for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Cana Tells A Story

AN: This chapter is short in my opinion. It's an explanation chapter. Before anyone says anything let me make two points.

1) I know Laxus never came back after his exile but due to the plot of this story, and the fact that I'm the author and what I say goes. If this disagrees with your personal opinion: frankly, I don't give a damn.

2) Ages just sorta puts me off just because I can't ever get them right so Cana is now a year younger than Laxus. Deal with it.

Anyway, thanks to the person who reviewed last chapter, so sorry that I can't remember your username, it means a whole lot. More reviews and suggestions any of you have are appreciated! I hope this chapter is okay! -Tori

••••••••••••••••••

When Lucy saw the girl collapse on the hill she didn't know what to think. When Erza decided to take her back with them she didn't know what to think. But it was when they brought her to the guild when she was at a loss the most.

They took woman straight into the Fairy Tail Infirmary, all of the members burning, all of them wondering who this strange cloaked woman was. It was the Master and Cana's reactions that confused her the most. The moment the Woman's cloak was taken off the two, Master, having to check on this strange woman, and Cana was just curious, both gasped.

"I don't understand," the half naked ice-make mage said, scratching his head "I don't see why that mark has both of them in hysterics." the pink haired mage shrugged in his direction, equally as confused.

"You wouldn't understand." the older brown haired woman said, smiling a little. "Lucy, come help me. The rest of you, leave.'' Cana kicked Natsu, Grey and Erza out the door and smiled at the blonde. "Come on, lets go." the bikini top clad woman grabbed the celestial spirit mage's arm and dragging her along despite her loud protests.

Now that all the comotion was over and done with, the blonde finally had a moment to think and ask questions. The Fact that she was with Cana was better, the girl had been a guild member longer than anyone she knew except for maybe Laxus. They were still looking around but for what she was still at a loss for.

"Um, Cana, What are we looking for anyway?" She asked, halting the steady walking pace they both had going.

The card magic user paused and then appoligized, clearly cleanrotty thinking straight. "I'm sorry, Lucy." she ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just so excited." she smiled widly. "I haven't seen Janine for a very long time."

Lucy tilted her head slightly to the side, trying to remember anything about a Janine. Her search of internal information came up with zero results. Cana smiled and sat down on the edge of the small man-made river that ran through town, removing her sandals and sticking her feet into the cold water. She pat the spot to the right of her, motioning for the younger woman to follow her lead.

When the blonde had done as she had she sighed, dragging a hand through the water, creating a few waves. "Let me tell you a story, Lucy. " she said quietly. "Way back before we knew each other, the guild was a very different place. I've seen it grow into the place it is today. I've seen many people change and develop. All my friends have grown up around me." at this she paused, taking a deep breath in. Lucy kept her eyes on the card magic user, listening intently to what her friend had to say. "All except one. Her name was Janine Murakami. She and Laxus were the only ones who were around my age then, what with the both of them being a year older than myself. They both made me feel a member of this family. Everything was really surreal." She continued to make little waves in the water, each one fitting perfectly behind the other in a beautiful arrangement.

"But then one day her father and his partner went out on a job." The waves in the water became more erratic, some of them colliding with each other. "Her mother couldn't use magic and never liked the idea of him going off on jobs. His name was Cree. You'll find his name on the second floor by theS-Class quests. Master was sending the both of them off on a dangerous request at the request of the Magic Council. Two days later Jacobs, Cree's partner, returned to the guildhall, Macao found him outside struggling to breathe, bleeding from several life threatening wounds." her eyes looked empty as she continued her wave making.

"He collapsed at the front of the hall, telling us to tell Master that Cree had been killed, to tell him they had failed." her eyes slapstick filed with tears. "He fell unconscious and died." Taking a deep breath in she continued her story, Lucy absorbing this information. "I didn't even see Janine that day. Laxus was with her until Makarov went to break the news to her mother. The next thing we knew Janine and her mother were nowhere to be found. Laxus and I searched forever, but every town we came to had no idea who Janine was." this time she swept her hand across the top of the water and stood up, the waves crashing into each other violently. "Laxus would gos sit in the little tree house on the edge of the city and cry sometimes, don't tell him I told you. They were so close. He's been looking for him ever since, as have I. It's the reason he sometimes comes back to the guild even though his exile says not to. I heard he was back in town earlier and I wanted to tell him she was here." Lucy, still sitting with her feet in, watching the left over waves crash violently into each other and dissipate the father out they floated.

"And to how we know that woman is Janine," the mage said, her face to the wind, her Brown hair blowing towards the guild Hall. "It's her birthmark. The Rose shaped birthmark. She's the only one I know of that had it. It's why we nicknamed her Rose. She is the Lost Rose of Fairy Tail." she smiled. "That's why we have to find Laxus. We have to tell him she's back. The Lost Rose come home."


End file.
